Brooklyn Music Milestones – December 2014

December 5, 2014 by
Forbes

Jay-Z & Warren Buffet on the Cover of Forbes Photo courtesy of Forbes.com

Jan. 5, 1975: The Wiz, Broadway’s rock-and-soul reimagining of The Wizard of Oz, opens at the Majestic Theatre. Playing the lead role of Dorothy is Bedford-Stuyvesant’s own Stephanie Mills. The show runs for four full years, with future Grammy winner Mills on board for the entire run.

Dec. 23, 1961: The Tokens’ The Lion Sleeps Tonight finishes its three-week run as the top single in the U.S., after which it hangs on for another seven weeks in the Top 40. The re-formed group includes Abraham Lincoln High School alumni Hank Medress and Jay Siegel and newcomers (and fellow Brooklynites) Mitch Margo and Phil Margo. A new lineup led by Siegel remains a successful touring ensemble.

Jan. 13, 2010: Jay-Z is featured side by side with Warren Buffett on the cover of Forbes 400, the financial magazine’s annual tribute to “The Richest People in America.””

Vic Mizzy

Vic Mizzy Photo courtesy of Vic Mizzy.com

Jan. 15, 1861: The original Academy of Music, then located on Montague Street, presents it first concert: a program of classical music that includes works by Mozart and Verdi.

Jan. 20, 1966: The Don Knotts comedy The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, featuring a score by Brooklyn’s own Vic Mizzy, is released. Mizzy, most famous for writing the theme songs to The Addams Family and Green Acres TV series, goes on to compose the music for four more Knotts movies as well as films starring Tony Curtis and Sid Caesar.

Jan. 20-31, 1969: With Brooklyn born-and-raised keyboard player Robert Lamm doing most of the songwriting and lead vocals, Chicago Transit Authority lays down tracks for its self-titled debut album at New York’s Columbia Recording Studios. The double LP will eventually yield two top-10 Lamm-penned singles, Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? and Beginnings, released under the band’s shorter, more familiar name, Chicago.